Saturday, July 28, 2012

Sadie was born into a large family. She had four older sisters and three older
brothers. And, because she was the “baby”, each of them spoiled her, played
with her, delighted in her, and loved her dearly.

Both of Sadie’s parents had been only children. When they were each growing up,
they had no aunts, uncles or cousins. So, when they married, they both wanted a
lot of children. They didn’t want their kids to miss out, as they did, on big
family reunions, Holiday gatherings, and other extended family related events.

Both sets of Sadie’s grandparents were dead, so, it was just her immediate
family, but that was enough for her. Holidays were bursting with fun and
activity, vacations were larger than life, and the family enjoyed each other’s
company enormously.

Life was good for Sadie. She was a perfectly happy and contented little girl.
She thought of herself as luckiest girl in the world.

But, life is never static; nothing stays the same for long. It seems as though
life likes to send change our way either to challenge us to make us either grow
or wither. Why? Who can say?

Change, depending on the type of change life sends us, can be perceived as
either good or bad. One could suppose, it is all in the way you look at it and
deal it. It could be an opportunity for some or it could break the hearts of
others. Maybe that is why so many people fear change, especially if your life,
at the moment, is wonderful.

Sadie’s life did, in fact, change drastically. One day, when she was at her
weekly ballet class, a tragedy occurred. Both her parents and all her brothers
and sisters were at home. They were doing what families do… some watching TV,
some reading, some talking…

While involved in their respective activities, the water line on the water
heater broke and water exploded everywhere, extinguishing the pilot light in
the unit. This released gas that quickly filled the entire house. The family
did not readily notice the obnoxious odor of the gas until the entire house was
filled with it.

When they did, the father jumped up, shouted for his family to get out, and ran
upstairs to the water heater. Unfortunately, as he was running up the stairs,
his shoes caused a spark on the carpet and the entire house, now filled with
family and gas, exploded into the ether. No one or anything was left of the
house, its inhabitants or contents.

When told of the news, Sadie went into shock and remained in a coma like state
for weeks. She didn’t want to wake up. She was alone, all alone, and homeless.

Throughout her childhood, teen years, and young adult years, Sadie always felt
incomplete and completely alone. She carried a huge hole inside of her, a hole
that could not be filled by anyone or anything. Having experienced what she did
as a child, losing all those she loved, Sadie changed as a person.

She was no longer the outgoing, loving, and happy person she once was. Instead,
she had a nastiness in her… a mean and hateful bend. She never hurt anyone,
but, felt overwhelming jealousy towards those with families; hate for those with
love and attention; and resentment for the way her life turned out.

So, she leaned toward the dark and wanted, at times, to take the happiness away
from others. She hoped this would fill that gigantic emptiness inside of her.
She felt if the “score” were somehow evened, then her emptiness and aloneness,
in addition to her lack of emotions, would go away.

Then, one day, when she was in her twenties, she was walking by the local
bookstore on the corner and stopped to gaze in the window at the newly released
books. One book in particular caught her eye, and for the first time, in so
long, she felt something stir inside of her. She felt curiosity. She went
inside and bought the book. When she got home, she sat down and, immediately,
read it from cover to cover.

When she finished, she felt she was no longer alone. She felt one with Nature,
with the Universe, and with the Goddess. She told herself that the Goddess had
seen her in such pain and aloneness, so She called out to her to help her and
bring her into Her arms.

That day was the beginning of Sadie’s new life. She read and learned all there
was to learn and know about the Goddess and Her faith. Sadie no longer felt
alone… she had a “mother” beside her and a “mother” who was watching out for
her.

But, studying and learning her new faith alone and with
the painful baggage she carried inside of herself, Sadie twisted many of the
dogmas and concepts of her new faith and newly found “Mother”. Sadie still
carried her feelings of resentment of others’ happiness and family and her
desire to rob others of what she had lost. But, now with the Goddess by her
side, she felt empowered and thought that maybe one day, with her new wisdom
and knowledge, she might just even the scales of life.

When that day would be, right now she didn’t know, but she was confident she
would know when the time was right to take from those what was taken from her.
-Marsha J. West, Author

(This story and my creation, this cabinet, may not be copied, reproduced,
republished, edited, downloaded, displayed, modified, transmitted, licensed,
transferred, sold, stolen, distributed or uploaded in any way without my
written permission. My work does not belong to the public domain. Marsha J.
West. All Rights Reserved.)

Thursday, July 5, 2012

It seems I have not
been here as much as I should, and…that’s half true. But, my mind has been on
Enchanticals constantly.

My Muses are really filled with such stimulation so... my creative juices are flowing
like magical and enchanted water from a dam. So many new things will be listed
shortly.

I am still creating and creating.

I am an enchanted woman possessed.

It feels wonderful.
I should send my Muses to Paris more often!

Gosh and Golly, I love imagination and creativity. I plan to start listing some
of my new creations this week.

So... get ready cuz here they come…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Announcement~

Enchanticals is known predominantly for my creations in 1:12th scale, as well
as my miniature and elemental bottles. However, I love Fashion Dolls and love
to create vanities, home décor, furniture, accessories, jewelry and much more
for them in their scales 1:6th and 1:4th.

This year I had
decided to only sell my 1: 12th creations at Enchanticals. But, I miss my 1:6th
and 1:4th Fashion Doll items. So, Enchanticals will once again sell one of kind
handmade creations for Fashion Dolls in scales 1:6th and 1:4th.

However, not to
worry!! Miniature Dollhouse Scale of 1:12th will still be Enchanticals’ main
focus.

Note: These are
fantasy items and possess no magical powers or abilities.

I am thrilled to share with you that they have been a bit hit! At a recent art
show, I brought 15 of these magic wand and matching crystal ball base sets and
they all sold out in an hour! Plus, I received many requests from those who
were not able to buy them! (I do not do special requests on Etsy.)

When I listed one
set in Enchanticals it sold the next day.

Also, on Flickr, the first and only
one I listed on Enchanticals,
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/enchanticals/6934717552/in/photostream)
it has received to date close to 300 views, numerous top Flickr awards,
wonderful praise and comments, favs+++, as well as being included in galleries.
Galleries on Flickr are akin to Treasuries on Etsy.

Thank you everyone
for such a wonderful response. I love making them and will continue to do so in
both traditional and unusual color combinations.

About Me

“Between the worlds of men and make believe I
can be found.”
~Dan Fogelberg

Hello. I am Marsha J. West, creator of Enchanticals.

I created the word Enchanticals. Enchanticals describes my creations and the
imaginary place which I also created, where my creations first reside before
being listed at my Etsy shop, aptly named Enchanticals.

Enchanticals is where enchantment resides…along with fantasy, imagination,
whimsy, creativity, magic, mystery, and lore. Enchantment is always afoot at
Enchanticals because enchantment cannot be harnessed, has no rules, and is
everywhere.

I am a miniaturist, artist, writer, and poet. My poetry includes haikus. I am
completing a series of children’s books.

**************************
Published and Featured:

Enchanticals has been featured and continues to be featured in many place
online, in magazines, blogs, Etsy team blogs and Treasuries, as well as many
other miniature and artistic spots. I have listed just these…

I am a miniaturist, artist, writer, and poet. I am/was gifted with both a sense
of wonder and curiosity, as well as a rich imagination that knows no bounds. My
late parents encouraged and instilled in my sister and me a desire to learn all
that we could from all sources available….the written, visual, spoke; to seek;
to question; to think broadly and out of the box; to learn other cultures,
customs, and make friends of every culture and creed; to create; be ourselves;
think for ourselves, and, most of all, to imagine. For from imagination with
action added to it for fuel, one can create boundlessly.

My
personality is a bit like yin and yang. I love nature, sunlight, sunny days,
animals, flowers, meadows, butterflies (my Sacred Power Animal), and colors. But,
my yin, so to speak, side, loves the night, the moon, grey overcast skies,
rain, barren trees, melancholy, cold winds blowing, emptiness, fog, and myste.
This yin yang personality of mine enhances what I create. When I am in a Yang
mode, I create fairy, elemental, and the like creations and when Yin, I love to
make spooky, dark, vampires, and the like.

As
an artist, I create in various mediums. However, my preference and specialty
are predominantly in 1:12th or miniature dollhouse scale…miniature items, but
especially furniture, altered and/or made by me. I furnish them completely with
one-of-a-kind, handmade, detailed, and realistic looking items made from nature
and found objects.

Each
creation is based upon a central theme or character and each altered found
object created for that piece supports the main theme.

My
themes and characters for my creations run the gamut…from enchanted to fantasy
to whimsy to fairytale to wizard to horror/spooky to realism. These themes do
not have a season or Holiday associated with them; I create them year round.
For example, spooky…spooky/haunted are not just for Halloween, but rather exist
in my enchanted world the entire year.

Speaking
of “spooky”…my spooky creations are scary, sometimes a bit ghoulish, and may
give you a bit of a chill. But, they are always infused with a dab and a dash
of whimsy. My spooky is devoid of evil, harm, cruelty, and hate to and for
others. Spooky is, to me, is fun fantasy.

I
make my creations one at a time… from start to finish. There is no assembly
line in my workshop. No elves either. For this reason, each piece is truly
one-of a-kind. I keep no written “recipes” for the colors I use nor written
instructions for the any of items I create. Each piece is from or includes
nature or is created out of found objects I have available at the time. Thus,
none of my finished pieces can be duplicated.

For
each individual creation, I specifically write an original story entitled, “A
Little Tale”. My little tales are fables, some with a moral, which either recounts
the personal life history of the previous “owner” of the piece of furniture or
the origin, history or mystery surrounding the miniature item I created. My
little tales are a way for me to bring my creations to life for the audience
and also to draw them into and become part of, not only the items created, but
also my enchanted little world.

My
goal with each of my creations are to make them enjoyable useable works of art;
to enchant, surprise, and delight the audience; to challenge the audience to
use their imagination to discover the unique and creative pieces made from
found objects; and to feel amazement and wonder at how the original purpose of
each found object has changed and become something else entirely.